EXPLAINER: Why so many people aged 30 and under in Spain have to live with their parents

THE vast majority of younger people in Spain are continuing to live with their parents.

Latest figures from the Emancipation Observatory show that only 15.6% of people aged 30 years and under were living independently at the end of 2021.

That’s 3% lower than before the Covid-19 pandemic struck in March 2020.

The age at which a Spaniard leaves the family home is higher than the European average.

Younger Spaniards become independent at 29.7 years compared to 26.4 years across Europe according to Eurostat data.

Accommodation costs are massive factor on people staying put with their family.

A young person in Spain needs 3.8 times of their annual net salary to afford a down payment on an average home mortgage.

The average rent Spain is €850 per month, while a person aged under can only afford €320 without falling into debt.

That accounts for the large number of younger people looking to share properties with non-family members.

The Ministry of Social Rights points out that there is a ‘significant gender gap’ in socio-economic situations that leads to different patterns of emancipation.

Although there are more women who leave home before the age of 30 than men (18.5% compared to 12.7%), only 14% of them manage to do so on their own, compared to 27% of solo-living men.

The lower rate of emancipation among women living alone is due to greater job insecurity and the rate of temporary employment is six points higher in the case of young women than in men (58.6%) and part-time work is almost double at 33.7% compared to 17.8% of men.

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